Dear Friends,
After many years of working in bird conservation and with extensive experience as a tour leader as well as personal birding trips throughout the Americas, Europe and southern Africa, I decided to open a birding tour company based in Mindo, Ecuador. Why Mindo?? Because it is considered a key site for endemism and it was where I had launched the first Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Americas while working in Quito as Head of the Americas Regional Office for BirdLife International. I had first visited Mindo in 1990 as a birding tourist and had found it to be a beautiful, tranquil, bird-filled area. So, in 1996 when we were deciding to launch the first IBA, it was not hard to convince everyone that it should be in the Mindo area.
I had long ago decided that by the year 2000 I would be working in the field instead of a city office. So in May 1999 I quit my real job, sold my home in Austin, Texas and moved from Quito to Mindo. As my birding friends and others began to want to come birding in Ecuador they contacted me for assistance. So I helped arrange birding tours and, one thing always leading to another, soon decided to formalize my efforts by establishing an actual tour company. In 1999 I established Mindo Bird Tours as the first birding company based in Mindo. Since its inception 25 years ago, Mindo Bird Tours has grown dramatically and now includes Ecuador Bird Tours. We now offer regular birding tours throughout Ecuador as well as Peru and Colombia and also arrange many custom and private tours in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and elsewhere in South America. We have very many repeat customers and pride ourselves on providing the best possible birding tour – with great birds, great guides, great drivers, comfortable lodging and safety.
Our philosophy of providing the best birding tours is coupled with our strong conservation ethic. As I plotted my move away from city life I began to purchase parcels of land for habitat conservation and potentially for a place to live. In 1998, with a purchase of 15 acres of mixed forest and farm, Reserva Las Gralarias (www.reservalasgralarias.org) was born. I now co-own approximately 1500 acres of land within Mindo parish. With the help of many people we established the U.S.-based Las Gralarias Foundation, Inc. for the protection in perpetuity of the reserve. We have worked hard since 1998 to establish and grow the reserve, actively revegetating previously pastured areas, and protecting the primary forest as well as the many waterways within the reserve. Our efforts have paid off and we now have regular observations of many rare Choco endemic species not to mention the innumerable other species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants that call Reserva Las Gralarias their home. We have had visitors from some 31 countries, including numerous researchers who are trying to unlock the mysteries of this Pacific slope Andean cloud forest in order to help us better conserve it. Our Las Gralarias Foundation has an amazing Board of Directors that does everything from fundraising, newsletter production, frog research, aquatic insect research, environmental education, tour leading - ETC ETC ETC!!! We also have a dedicated full-time staff of Ecuadorians without whom none of our efforts would have been possible.
So, when you sign up for a tour with us you can rest assured that you will be receiving the highest quality experience and will also be helping conserve some amazing habitat for many wonderful birds and other cloud forest creatures. You will be providing meaningful employment to our full-time and contract staff and will be helping promote responsible ecotourism in one of the world's most biodiverse regions.
We all thank you!
Jane A. Lyons, Ph.D.
Mindo Bird Tours & Ecuador Bird Tours
Quito, Ecuador
CLIENT COMMENTS FROM BIRDING IN ECUADOR!
www.ecuadorbirdtours.com [email protected]
ENJOY SOME PHOTOS BELOW FROM OUR TOURS
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Want to go birding in northern Peru?The easiest way to see all the specialties of northern Peru is driving from southern Ecuador.
Contact us for our 18-day Southern Ecuador-Northern Peru tour details. 
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Whether you want a one-day tour for one person or a three-month tour for ten, we are happy to arrange it for you.Contact us for details at [email protected]
We specialize in
private tours to search for the rarest species such as Buff-fronted Owl, Long-whiskered Owlet, Blue-throated Hillstar and many more. We know where to find the birds that you want to see! Contact us for details at [email protected] |
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